EPA Superfund Program: CHLOR-ALKALI FACILITY (FORMER), BERLIN, NH

EPA’s Superfund Program: Making a Visible Difference

Superfund Site Profile

www.epa.gov/superfund/chloralkali

The 41-acre Site in Berlin, New Hampshire lies on the east bank of the Androscoggin River bounded to the north by Bridge Street and Sawmill Dam, to the east by Hutchins Street, and to the south by the remainder of the former paper plant, now a biomass energy facility. The Site includes a 4.6-acre landfill containing construction debris, capped by a low-permeability membrane and 2-feet of woodchips. The remainder of the Site is vacant with shrubs and successional trees interspersed with wetlands, dirt roads and isolated industrial debris.

From the 1890s to the 1960s, the Site was a chemical plant that included chlorine-producing cell houses. The chemical plant used chlorine to make chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, and other chlorinated organic compounds. The owners razed most of the chemical plant structures and buried them on the property in the 1960s. In 1999, the owners demolished the last cell house and created the 4.6-acre Cell House Parcel landfill in the area of the former cell houses.

The primary contaminants at the Site include mercury, dioxins, furans, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), and semi-volatile organic compounds. Operations in the cell houses used or generated these contaminants. In 1999, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES) discovered mercury in the Androscoggin River directly adjacent to, and along the length of, the 4.6-acre landfill. Despite several removal efforts by NHDES and EPA, mercury continues to appear in bedrock fractures on the east bank of the Androscoggin River adjacent to the 4.6-acre landfill. The beads of mercury generally harden into solid metal amalgams, erosion transports these amalgams further downstream.

The Androscoggin River is currently designated “catch-and-release” from Berlin downstream to the Maine border. People who disregard this designation and eat fish caught in the river may be exposed to elevated levels of PCBs, mercury and dioxin, all of which are highly toxic. Seven rare bird species are known to live or feed close to the Androscoggin River near the Site and could, therefore, be harmed by the contaminants being released from the site. These species include the bald eagle, peregrine falcon, common nighthawk, northern harrier, osprey, common loon, and Cooper’s hawk.

Site Reports and Documents

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